Remote browsing session management

ABSTRACT

A remote browsing process is directed to the generation and management of a remote browse session at a network computing and storage provider. A client computing device loads a local browser process and obtains network content from content providers. The local browser process additionally requests a browse session instance corresponding to the network content at a network computing and storage provider. The network computing and storage provider instantiates a browser process in response to the request. The remote browser process retrieves the network content, and generates a processing result corresponding to a first representation of the network content. The processing result may be provided to the client computing device for display. The local browser process may display either the first representation of the network content corresponding to the processing result or a second representation of the network content processed locally at the client computing device.

Generally described, computing devices and communication networks can beutilized to exchange information. In a common application, a computingdevice can request content from another computing device via thecommunication network. For example, a user at a personal computingdevice can utilize a software browser application, typically referred toas a browser software application, to request a Web page from a servercomputing device via the Internet. In such embodiments, the usercomputing device can be referred to as a client computing device and theserver computing device can be referred to as a content provider.

With reference to an illustrative example, a requested Web page, ororiginal content, may be associated with a number of additionalresources, such as images or videos, that are to be displayed with theWeb page. In one specific embodiment, the additional resources of theWeb page are identified by a number of embedded resource identifiers,such as uniform resource locators (“URLs”). In turn, software on theclient computing devices, such as a browser software application,typically processes embedded resource identifiers to generate requestsfor the content. Accordingly, in order to satisfy a content request, oneor more content providers will generally provide client computingdevices data associated with the Web page as well as the data associatedwith the embedded resources.

Once the client computing device obtains the Web page and associatedadditional resources, the content may be processed in a number of stagesby the software browser application or other client computing deviceinterface. For example, and with reference to the above illustration,the software browser application may parse the Web page to processvarious HTML layout information and references to associated resources,may identify and process Cascading Style Sheets (“CSS”) information, mayprocess and instantiate various Javascript code associated with the Webpage, may construct a native object model to represent one or morecomponents of the Web page, and may calculate various layout and displayproperties of the processed content for presentation to a user.

From the perspective of a user utilizing a client computing device, auser experience can be defined in terms of the performance and latenciesassociated with obtaining network content over a communication network,such as obtaining a Web page, processing embedded resource identifiers,generating requests to obtain embedded resources, and rendering contenton the client computing device. Latencies and performance limitations ofany of the above processes may diminish the user experience.Additionally, latencies and inefficiencies may be especially apparent oncomputing devices with limited resources, such as processing power,memory or network connectivity such as netbooks, tablets, smartphones,and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of thisinvention will become more readily appreciated as the same become betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description, whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrative of a content delivery environmentincluding a number of client computing devices, content provider, acontent delivery network service provider, and a network computing andstorage provider;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1illustrating the generation and processing of a new browse sessionrequest from a client computing device to a network computing andstorage provider;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1illustrating the generation and processing of a request for a networkresource from a network computing and storage provider to a contentprovider;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1illustrating the generation and processing of one or more requestscorresponding to one or more embedded resources from a network computingand storage provider to a content provider and content delivery network;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1illustrating the generation and processing of browse session data anduser interaction data between a network computing and storage providerand client computing device;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1illustrating the generation and processing of an additional new browsesession request from a client computing device to a network computingand storage provider;

FIG. 7 is a user interface diagram depicting an illustrative browserinterface and display of browse session content;

FIG. 8 is a diagram depicting illustrative browser content processingactions as a series of processing subsystems;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrative of a new browse session routineimplemented by network computing and storage provider;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrative of a client new browse sessioninteraction routine implemented by a client computing device; and

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrative of a process user interactionroutine implemented by a client computing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally described, the present disclosure is directed to thegeneration and management of a remote application session between clientcomputing devices and content providers in conjunction with a networkcomputing and storage provider. Specifically, aspects of the disclosurewill be described with regard to the request for a browse session by aclient computing device with a content provider, the establishment of aremote browse session between the client computing device and a networkcomputing and storage provider, and the transmission of browse sessionstate data and client interaction data between the client computingdevice and the network computing and storage provider. Although aspectsof the embodiments described in the disclosure will focus, for thepurpose of illustration, on the management of a remote browse session,one skilled in the art will appreciate that the techniques disclosedherein may be applied to any number of software processes orapplications. Further, although various aspects of the disclosure willbe described with regard to illustrative examples and embodiments, oneskilled in the art will appreciate that the disclosed embodiments andexamples should not be construed as limiting.

With reference to an illustrative example, a user may cause a clientcomputing device to load a software browser application (henceforthreferred to as a “browser”) for accessing content provided by one ormore content providers. Illustratively, the accessed content may includea collection of one or more network resources (e.g., a Web page) andembedded resources such as images, video, audio, text, executable code,and other resources. In one embodiment, the browser may have a contentdisplay area or pane for displaying the accessed network content inaddition to one or more local interface components, such as toolbars,menus, buttons, or other user interface controls. Local interfacecomponents may be managed and controlled by the software browserapplication or any other process executing or implemented locally at theclient computing device. Illustratively, managing user interfacecontrols locally may allow for a responsive user interface, asinteractions by the user are processed locally on the client computingdevice.

Subsequent to the browser being loaded, a user or automated browserprocess may cause the client computing device to transmit a request toaccess content from a content provider by establishing a browse sessionwith a network computing and storage provider across a private or publicnetwork. The browse session request may include information identifyingone or more sources for the requested content. The identifiers can be inthe form of network addresses of network resources, such as a Web siteor other network accessible piece of content. For example, the user mayselect or enter a URL, (e.g., http://www.xyzwebsite.com) into a browserwindow, causing the client computing device to transmit a request for anew browse session to the network computing and storage provider,including the selected URL. The address or location of a networkcomputing and storage provider capable to service the browse sessionrequest may be hardcoded into the browser, may be configurable by theuser, may be obtained from a network address service, or may bedetermined in any other way.

In an illustrative embodiment, responsive to the browse session requestreceived from the client computing device, the network computing andstorage provider may instantiate or cause to have instantiated one ormore computing components associated with the network computing andstorage provider that will host a browser software application. Forexample, the network computing and storage provider can instantiate, orcause to have instantiated, an instance of a virtual machine thatincludes a software browser application capable of requesting resourcesfrom a communication network. Illustratively, in some situations, one ormore devices associated with the network computing and storage providermay be located in a data center or other robustly networked computingenvironment, and, as compared to the client computing device, mayexperience relatively little latency or delay when obtaining networkresources.

Using the instantiated network computing components, the networkcomputing and storage provider may request the identified networkresource(s) from one or more content providers, a content deliverynetwork, or a local or associated cache component. For example, thebrowser software application on the instantiated network computingcomponent can process a primary network resource and then generateadditional content requests for content identified in one or moreembedded resource identifiers (e.g. pictures, video files, etc.).Illustratively, in the case of other, non-browser, applications, networkresources, or content may include any file type or format known in theart and supported by the specific software application.

Having obtained the requested content (e.g., the requested networkresource and embedded resources), the network computing and storageprovider may identify a remote session browsing configuration specifyinga remote session communication protocol for use in transmitting therequested content, user interaction data, intermediate processingresults, and other information between the browser being executed on theclient computing device and the browser being executed at theinstantiated network computing component on the computing and storageprovider. The information exchanged between the browser on theinstantiated network computing component and the browser on the clientcomputing device can be generally referred to as “browser sessioninformation.”

In addition to specifying a remote session communication protocol fortransmitting information between the client computing device and theinstantiated network computing component, in one embodiment, theidentified remote session browsing configuration may specify that one ormore processing actions to be performed on the requested content are tobe performed at the network computing and storage provider rather than,or in addition to, at the client computing device. For purposes ofillustration, the processing of network content by a browser may involvevarious processing actions before content can be rendered in anappropriate form on a client computing device. A Web page, for example,may be parsed and processed to process various HTML layout informationand references to associated resources or embedded content such as CSSstyle sheets and Javascript, as well as embedded content objects such asimages, video, audio, etc. Each object or piece of code may be parsedand processed before a representative object model corresponding to theweb page may be constructed and processed further for layout anddisplay. In accordance with the selected remote session browsingconfiguration, the client computing device and the instantiated networkcomputing component may exchange processing results via browser sessioninformation (e.g., state data or display data representing the requestedcontent).

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrative of a networked computingenvironment 100 for the management and processing of content requests.As illustrated in FIG. 1, the networked computing environment 100includes a number of client computing devices 102 (generally referred toas clients) for requesting content and content processing from a contentprovider 104, CDN service provider 106, or network computing and storageprovider 107. In an illustrative embodiment, the client computingdevices 102 can corresponds to a wide variety of computing devicesincluding personal computing devices, laptop computing devices,hand-held computing devices, terminal computing devices, mobile devices(e.g., mobile phones, tablet computing devices, etc.), wireless devices,various electronic devices and appliances and the like. In anillustrative embodiment, the client computing devices 102 includenecessary hardware and software components for establishingcommunications over a communication network 108, such as a wide areanetwork or local area network. For example, the client computing devices102 may be equipped with networking equipment and browser softwareapplications that facilitate communications via the Internet or anintranet. The client computing devices 102 may have varied localcomputing resources such as central processing units and architectures,memory, mass storage, graphics processing units, communication networkavailability and bandwidth, etc.

The networked computing environment 100 can also include a contentprovider 104 in communication with the one or more client computingdevices 102 or other service providers (e.g., CDN service provider 106,network computing and storage provider 107, etc.) via the communicationnetwork 108. The content provider 104 illustrated in FIG. 1 correspondsto a logical association of one or more computing devices associatedwith a content provider. Specifically, the content provider 104 caninclude a web server component 110 corresponding to one or more servercomputing devices for obtaining and processing requests for content(such as Web pages) from the client computing devices 102 or otherservice providers. The content provider 104 can further include anorigin server component 112 and associated storage component 114corresponding to one or more computing devices for obtaining andprocessing requests for network resources from the CDN service provider.The content provider 104 can still further include an application servercomputing device 111, such as a data streaming server, for processingstreaming content requests. One skilled in the relevant art willappreciate that the content provider 104 can be associated with variousadditional computing resources, such as additional computing devices foradministration of content and resources, DNS name servers, and the like.For example, although not illustrated in FIG. 1, the content provider104 can be associated with one or more DNS name server components thatwould be authoritative to resolve client computing device DNS queriescorresponding to a domain of the content provider.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the networked computing environment100 can further include a CDN service provider 106 in communication withthe one or more client computing devices 102 and other service providersvia the communication network 108. The CDN service provider 106illustrated in FIG. 1 corresponds to a logical association of one ormore computing devices associated with a CDN service provider.Specifically, the CDN service provider 106 can include a number of Pointof Presence (“POP”) locations 116, 122, 128 that correspond to nodes onthe communication network 108. Each CDN POP 116, 122, 128 includes a DNScomponent 118, 124, 130 made up of a number of DNS server computingdevices for resolving DNS queries from the client computers 102. EachCDN POP 116, 122, 128 also includes a resource cache component 120, 126,132 made up of a number of cache server computing devices for storingresources from content providers and transmitting various requestedresources to various client computers. The DNS components 118, 124, and130 and the resource cache components 120, 126, 132 may further includeadditional software and/or hardware components that facilitatecommunications including, but not limited to, load balancing or loadsharing software/hardware components.

In an illustrative embodiment, the DNS component 118, 124, 130 andresource cache component 120, 126, 132 are considered to be logicallygrouped, regardless of whether the components, or portions of thecomponents, are physically separate. Additionally, although the CDN POPs116, 122, 128 are illustrated in FIG. 1 as logically associated with theCDN service provider 106, the CDN POPs will be geographicallydistributed throughout the communication network 108 in a manner to bestserve various demographics of client computing devices 102.Additionally, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that theCDN service provider 106 can be associated with various additionalcomputing resources, such as additional computing devices foradministration of content and resources, and the like.

With further continued reference to FIG. 1, the networked computingenvironment 100 can also include a network computing and storageprovider 107 in communication with the one or more client computingdevices 102, the CDN service provider 106, and the content provider 104via the communication network 108. The network computing and storageprovider 107 illustrated in FIG. 1 also corresponds to a logicalassociation of one or more computing devices associated with a networkcomputing and storage provider. Specifically, the network computing andstorage provider 107 can include a number of Point of Presence (“POP”)locations 134, 142, 148 that correspond to nodes on the communicationnetwork 108. Each POP 134, 142, 148 includes a network computingcomponent (NCC) 136, 144, 150 for hosting applications, such as datastreaming applications, via a number of instances of a virtual machine,generally referred to as an instance of an NCC. One skilled in therelevant art will appreciate that NCC 136, 144, 150 would includephysical computing device resources and software to provide the multipleinstances of a virtual machine or to dynamically cause the creation ofinstances of a virtual machine. Such creation can be based on a specificrequest, such as from a client computing device, or the NCC can initiatedynamic creation of an instance of a virtual machine on its own. EachNCC POP 134, 142, 148 also includes a storage component 140, 146, 152made up of a number of storage devices for storing any type of data usedin the delivery and processing of network or computing resources,including but not limited to user data, state information, processingrequirements, historical usage data, and resources from contentproviders that will be processed by an instance of an NCC 136, 144, 150and transmitted to various client computers, etc. The NCCs 136, 144, 150and the storage components 140, 146, 152 may further include additionalsoftware and/or hardware components that facilitate communicationsincluding, but not limited to, load balancing or load sharingsoftware/hardware components for selecting instances of a virtualmachine supporting a requested application and/or providing informationto a DNS nameserver to facilitate request routing.

In an illustrative embodiment, NCCs 136, 144, 150 and the storagecomponents 140, 146, 152 are considered to be logically grouped,regardless of whether the components, or portions of the components, arephysically separate. For example, a network computing and storageprovider 107 may maintain separate POPs for providing the NCC and thestorage components. Additionally, although the NCC POPs 134, 142, 148are illustrated in FIG. 1 as logically associated with a networkcomputing and storage provider 107, the NCC POPs will be geographicallydistributed throughout the communication network 108 in a manner to bestserve various demographics of client computing devices 102.Additionally, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that thenetwork computing and storage provider 107 can be associated withvarious additional computing resources, such additional computingdevices for administration of content and resources, and the like. Evenfurther, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that thecomponents of the network computing and storage provider 107 andcomponents of the CDN service provider 106 can be managed by the same ordifferent entities.

With reference now to FIGS. 2-6, the interaction between variouscomponents of the networked computing environment 100 of FIG. 1 will beillustrated. Specifically, FIGS. 2-6 illustrate the interaction betweenvarious components of the networked computing environment 100 for theexchange of content between a client computing device 102 and a contentprovider 104 via the network computing and storage provider 107. Forpurposes of the example, however, the illustration has been simplifiedsuch that many of the components utilized to facilitate communicationsare not shown. One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that suchcomponents can be utilized and that additional interactions wouldaccordingly occur without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 2, the process can begin with the generation andprocessing of a browse session request from a client computing device102 to a network computing and storage provider 107 will be described.Illustratively, the client computing device 102 may load a browser forviewing network content in response to an event or user request.Subsequent to the browser being loaded, the browser may be implementedto request a new browse session. From the perspective of the user of theclient computing device, the request for the new browse sessioncorresponds to the intended request to transmit the request to one ormore corresponding content providers 104. Illustratively, this requestmay be generated automatically as a result of the browser loading (e.g.,a request for a default or “home” page), or may be generated as a resultof a user following a link or entering a network address into an addressbar. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the browse session request is transmittedfirst to a network computing and storage provider 107. In anillustrative embodiment, the network computing and storage provider 107utilizes a registration application program interface (“API”) to acceptbrowse session requests from the client computing device 102. The browsesession request can include network address information corresponding toa requested network resource, which may be in any form, including, butnot limited to, an Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, a URL, a MediaAccess Control (“MAC”) address, etc.

Subsequent to the receipt of the browse session request, the networkcomputing and storage provider 107 may select an associated networkcomputing component (hereinafter “NCC”) point of presence (hereinafter“POP”) such as NCC POP 142 to service the browse session request. Theselection of the NCC POP may determine the processing and networkresources available to the instantiated virtual machine. The selectionof processing and network resources and the provisioning of software atthe NCC POP instance may be done, at least in part, in order to optimizecommunication with content providers 104 and client computing devices102.

With reference to FIG. 3, an illustrative interaction for generation andprocessing of a request for a network resource from a network computingand storage provider 107 to a content provider 104 will be described. Asillustrated in FIG. 3, the selected NCC POP 142 may generate a browsesession corresponding to one or more content providers based on a browsesession request, such as the illustrative browse session requestdepicted in FIG. 2 above. Illustratively, instantiating a new browsesession instance may include loading a new virtual machine instanceand/or browser instance at the NCC POP 142, reserving or allocatingdevice memory, storage or cache space, processor time, networkbandwidth, or other computational or network resources for the newbrowse session.

Subsequent to initializing a new browse session instance, NCC POP 142may provide a request for a network resource to a content provider 104based on a network address included in the browse session request. Forexample, a browse session request may include a URL for a Web page, suchas “http://www.xyzsite.com/default.htm.” NCC POP 142 may resolve the URLto an IP address through a DNS resolver associated with the networkcomputing and storage provider (not shown), and may request the Web pagefrom the content provider 104 at the resolved IP address. In variousembodiments, a network resource may be retrieved from any combination ofcontent providers, content delivery network (hereinafter “CDN”) servers,or caches associated with the network computing and storage provider107. For example, the network computing and storage provider may checkif a resource is stored in a local cache or in another server or serviceprovider associated with the network computing and storage provider 107.If a network resource is stored in a local or associated location, theNCC POP 142 may retrieve the network resource from the local orassociated location rather than from the third party content provider104 or CDN service provider 106. Illustratively, the NCC POP 142 mayprovide requests for any number of network resources as included in thebrowse session request, and may obtain these network resources from anynumber of different sources, sequentially or in parallel.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the content provider 104 receives the resourcerequest from the NCC POP 142 and processes the request accordingly. Inone embodiment, the content provider 104 processes the resource requestas if it were originally provided by the client computing device 102.For example, the content provider 104 may select the type of content,ordering of content, or version of content according to the requirementsof the requesting client computing device 102. In another embodiment,the content provider 104 may be provided with information that providesinformation associated with the NCC POP 142 for utilization in providingthe requested content (e.g., an available amount of processing resourcesor network bandwidth).

Subsequent to obtaining the requested network resource from the contentprovider 104 (or other source designated by the content provider), theNCC POP 142 may process the network resource to extract embeddedresource identifiers and gather information for determination of aremote session browsing configuration. For example, a network resourcesuch as a Web page may include embedded CSS style information andJavascript as well as embedded resource identifiers to additionalresources such as text, images, video, audio, animation, executablecode, and other HTML, CSS, and Javascript files. In the process ofextracting the embedded resource identifiers, the NCC POP 142 may gatherinformation about the processed network resources for later use in thedetermination of a remote session browsing configuration as discussedbelow with reference to FIG. 4.

With reference to FIG. 4, an illustrative interaction for generation andprocessing of one or more requests corresponding to one or more embeddedresources from a network computing and storage provider to a contentprovider and content delivery network is disclosed. As illustrated inFIG. 4, the selected NCC POP 142 may provide resource requests to one ormore sources of content such as content provider 104 and CDN POP 116.The resource requests may correspond to embedded resources based on oneor more embedded resource identifiers extracted from a requested networkresource (e.g., a Web page) as described in FIG. 3 above. In variousembodiments, embedded resources may be retrieved from any combination ofcontent providers, CDN servers, or caches associated with the networkcomputing and storage provider 107. For example, the network computingand storage provider may check if an embedded resource is stored in alocal cache or in another server or service provider associated with thenetwork computing and storage provider 107. If an embedded resource isstored in a local or associated location, the NCC POP 142 may retrievethe embedded resource from the local or associated location rather thanthe third party content provider or CDN. Illustratively, the NCC POP 142may provide requests for any number of embedded resources referenced bya network resource, and may obtain these embedded resources from anynumber of different sources, sequentially or in parallel. Subsequent toobtaining the requested resources, the NCC POP 142 may process theresources and requested content to determine a remote session browsingconfiguration for the processing and communication of content to theclient computing device 102.

With reference to FIG. 5, an illustrative interaction for generation andprocessing of processing results and user interaction data between anetwork computing and storage provider and client computing device isdisclosed. As previously described, in one embodiment, the respectivebrowsers on the instantiated network computing component and the clientcomputing device 102 can exchange browsers' session information relatedto the allocation and processing of the requested resources at theinstantiated network computing component and client computing device. Asillustrated in FIG. 5, the selected NCC POP 142 may provide an initialprocessing result to the client computing device 102 over the network108. The initial processing result may correspond to requested networkcontent, such as a Web page, along with associated embedded resourcesprocessed by the NCC POP 142 in accordance with a selected remotesession browsing configuration as described in FIG. 4 above. The NCC POP142 also makes a determination of which additional processes will beconducted at the NCC POP 142, at the client computing device 102, orboth. Subsequent to receiving an initial processing result and theallocation of processes, the client computing device 102 may perform anyremaining processing actions on the initial processing result asrequired by the selected remote session browsing configuration, and maydisplay the fully processed content in a content display area of abrowser. The client computing device 102 may process any local userinteractions with local interface components or content elementslocally, and may provide user interactions requiring remote processingto the network computing and storage provider 107. The network computingand storage provider 107 may provide updated processing results to theclient computing device in response to changes to the content or remoteuser interaction data from the client computing device.

With reference to FIG. 6, a block diagram of the content deliveryenvironment of FIG. 1 illustrating the generation and processing of anadditional new browse session request from a client computing device toa network computing and storage provider is disclosed. As illustrated inFIG. 6, a second new browse session request may be sent to networkcomputing and storage provider 107 from client computing device 102across network 108. In an illustrative embodiment, the network computingand storage provider 107 utilizes a registration API to accept browsesession requests from the client computing device 102.

The additional browse session request may be generated by a clientcomputing device 102 in response to a user opening up a new browserwindow with a new content display area, opening a new content displayarea in an existing browser window (e.g., opening a new tab in abrowser), requesting new network content in an existing content displayarea (e.g., following a link to a new network resource, or entering anew network address into the browser), or any other user interaction.For example, a user browsing a first Web page corresponding to a firstbrowse session instance may follow a link that opens a new tab orbrowser window to view a second Web page. In one embodiment, anyrequired steps of obtaining and processing content associated with thesecond Web page may be performed by the currently instantiated networkcomputing component in which the browser can handle the processing ofboth resource requests. In another embodiment, the client computingdevice 102 request may be processed as a new browse session request tothe network computing and storage provider 107, including the networkaddress of the second Web page. In this embodiment, the browser on theclient computing device may not specifically request a separate browsesession, and a user's interaction with the browser on the clientcomputing device 102 may appear to be part of a same browsing session.As described above with regard to FIGS. 2 and 3, the network computingand storage provider 107 may cause an instantiation of a networkcomputing component for obtaining and processing content associated withthe second web page. In other embodiments, a new browse session requestmay be generated by the client computing device 102 corresponding tosections of a network resource (e.g., frames of a Web page), individualnetwork resources, or embedded resources themselves, data objectsincluded in a set of content, or individual network resources.

Illustratively, the additional browse session request may include anynumber of pieces of data or information including, but not limited to,information associated with a user, information associated with theclient computing device 102 (e.g., hardware or software information, adevice physical or logical location, etc.), information associated withthe network 108, user or browser preferences (e.g., a requested remotesession browse protocol, a preference list, a decision tree, or otherinformation), information associated with the network computing andstorage provider 107, information associated with one or more pieces ofrequested network content (e.g., the network address of a networkresource), etc. Requested content may include any manner of digitalcontent, including Web pages or other documents, text, images, video,audio, executable scripts or code, or any other type of digitalresource.

Subsequent to the receipt of the browse session request, the networkcomputing and storage provider 107 may select an associated networkcomputing component such as NCC POP 142 to service the browse sessionrequest. As discussed above with reference to FIG. 2, a networkcomputing and storage provider 107 may select an NCC POP to service abrowse session request based on any number of factors, including, butnot limited to available NCC POP resources (e.g., available memory,processor load, network load, etc), a financial cost of servicing thebrowse session request at the NCC POP, the NCC POP location respectiveto a client computing device 102, content provider 112, or CDN POP 116,a NCC POP cache status (e.g., whether a requested resource is alreadystored in an NCC POP cache), etc. In one embodiment, the networkcomputing and storage provider 107 may select a number of NCC POPs toservice a browse session request. Illustratively, although the networkcomputing and storage provider 107 is depicted here for purposes ofillustration as selecting NCC POP 142, the network computing and storageprovider 107 may select any extant NCC POP to service the browse sessionrequest. For example, a single client computing device 102 maysimultaneously or sequentially provide three different browse sessionrequests to the network computing and storage provider 107 correspondingto different network resources. The network computing and storageprovider 107 may select different NCC POPs for each browse sessionrequest, the same NCC POP for all three browse session requests, or anycombination thereof. As discussed above, the decision whether to selecta different NCC POP than was utilized for a previous or simultaneousbrowse session request may be made on the basis of available systemresources, randomly, or according to any other factor as discussed aboveand with regards to FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a user interface diagram depicting an illustrative browserinterface and display of browse session content. As described above withreference to FIG. 5, a browser 700 may have a content display area 702,as well as one or more one or more local interface components. Theselocal interface components may include toolbars, menus, buttons, addressbars, scroll bars, window resize controls, or any other user interfacecontrols. Illustratively, local interface components may be displayed asseparate from the content display area or may be overlaid or embedded inthe content display area.

Interactions with local interface components may be treated as localuser interactions or remote user interactions depending on theprocessing required by the interaction and the remote session browsingconfiguration. For example, the selection of a preferences option in abrowser menu may be handled entirely as a local user interaction by abrowser. The processing required to display the menu, provide visualfeedback regarding the selection, display the preferences window, andprocess the changes made to the browser preferences may be performedlocally. As discussed above, processing user interactions locally mayprovide greater responsiveness at the browser as opposed to sending userinteraction data to the NCC POP 142 for processing. As another example,when using a remote session browsing configuration that specifiesextensive processing on the NCC POP 142 (e.g., a remote session browsingconfiguration using a remote session communication protocol such asRDP), the selection of a content refresh button in a browser toolbar maybe handled both as a local user interaction and a remote userinteraction. The limited processing required to provide interfacefeedback corresponding to the button selection may be handled at theclient computing device 102 in order to provide the appearance ofinterface responsiveness, while the refresh command, which may requireprocessing of the network content displayed in the content display areaof the browser, may be sent as user interaction data to the NCC POP 142for processing. The NCC POP 142 may then transmit updated processingresults corresponding to the refreshed network content back to theclient computing device 102 for display.

FIG. 8 is a diagram depicting illustrative browser content processingactions as a series of processing subsystems 800. In many embodiments, abrowser may process sets of content (e.g., network resources such as webpages and associated embedded resources) in a series of processingactions. Illustratively, and as described above with reference to FIGS.3-5, a remote session browsing configuration may specify a split betweenprocessing actions performed at a network computing and storage provider(e.g., an NCC POP) and processing actions performed at a clientcomputing device 102. This split may designate some processing actionsto be performed by each of the NCC POP and client computing device 102,or may assign all processing actions to a single device or component.For example, an NCC POP may perform all of these various processingactions at the browse session instance, and send fully processed RDPprocessing results to the client computing device 102 for bitmapassembly and display. Any number of different remote session browsingconfigurations may be used by one or more browse sessions instancesrunning at an NCC POP.

One of skill in the relevant art will appreciate that the subsystemsshown here are depicted for the purpose of illustration, and are notintended to describe a necessary order or a definitive list of browsersubsystems. Various browser software components may implement additionalor fewer browser subsystems than are shown here, and may order thesubsystems or corresponding processing actions in any number ofdifferent ways. Although the processing subsystems 800 depicted here forpurposes of illustration are directed at the processing of Web pages orother Web content, one of skill in the relevant art will appreciate thatthe processing of other file types or network resources may be broken upin a similar manner. For example, one of skill in the relevant art willappreciate that a similar schema may be developed for the processing ofimages, video, audio, database information, 3d design data, or any otherfile format or type of data known in the art. Similar schema may also bedeveloped for any number of device operating system or softwareframework processing operations, such as scheduling, memory or filemanagement, system resource management, process or service execution ormanagement, etc. Further, although the HTML protocol and RDP remotesession communication protocols are discussed herein for the purposes ofexample, one of skill in the relevant art will appreciate that a remotesession browsing configuration may implement any number of remotecommunication protocols for any number of specified processing actions,and that a remote session browsing configuration may be formulated toperform any fraction or combination of the actions identified below atany combination of the client computing device 102 and network computingand storage provider 107.

Illustratively, the first processing subsystem involved in theprocessing and display of network content is the networking subsystem802. Illustratively, the networking subsystem 802 may be responsible forall communication between the browser and content provider, includinglocal caching of Web content. The networking subsystem is generallylimited by the performance of the user's network. A remote sessionbrowsing configuration that splits processing actions at the networkingsubsystem 802 might include a remote session browsing configurationutilizing an HTML remote session communication protocol, where one ormore caching or resource retrieval actions were performed at the NCCPOP, but parsing and processing of the content was performed at theclient computing device.

As network resources such as HTML documents are downloaded from theserver they may be passed to an HTML subsystem 804 which parses thedocument, initiates additional downloads in the networking subsystem,and creates a structural representation of the document. Modern browsersmay also contain related subsystems which are used for XHTML, XML andSVG documents. A remote session browsing configuration that splitsprocessing actions at the HTML subsystem 804 might include a remotesession browsing configuration utilizing an HTML remote sessioncommunication protocol, where an initial HTML page is processed at theNCC POP in order to extract embedded resource identifiers, butadditional parsing and processing of the content is performed at theclient computing device. In another embodiment, a remote sessionbrowsing configuration that splits processing actions at the HTMLsubsystem 804 might perform initial processing to create the structuralrepresentation of the HTML document, and provides a processing resultincluding the structural representation and associated embeddedresources to the client computing device for processing.

When CSS is encountered, whether inside an HTML document or an embeddedCSS document, it may be passed to a CSS subsystem 806 to parse the styleinformation and create a structural representation that can bereferenced later. Illustratively, a remote session browsingconfiguration that splits processing actions at a CSS subsystem 806 mayconstruct a processing result including the CSS structuralrepresentation and HTML structural representation, and provide theprocessing result and associated embedded resources to the clientcomputing device for processing.

HTML documents often contain metadata, for example the informationdescribed in a document header or the attributes applied to an element.The collections subsystem 808 may be responsible for storing andaccessing this metadata. A remote session browsing configuration thatsplits processing actions at a collections subsystem 808 may construct aprocessing result including processed metadata along with any otherstructural representations discussed above, and provide the processingresult and associated embedded resources to the client computing devicefor processing.

When Javascript is encountered, it may be passed directly to aJavaScript subsystem 810 responsible for executing the script. TheJavascript subsystem 810 has been examined fully over the years, and maybe one of the most well known browser subsystems in the art. A remotesession browsing configuration that splits processing actions at aJavascript subsystem 810 may construct a processing result including aninternal representation of one or more Javascript scripts, including,but not limited to state data or a representation of the script in anative or intermediate form, as well as any other processed structuresor data discussed above, and provide the processing result andassociated embedded resources to the client computing device forprocessing.

Because many JavaScript engines are not directly integrated into thebrowser, there may be a communication layer including the marshallingsubsystem 812 between the browser and the script engine. Passinginformation through this communication layer may generally be referredto as marshaling. A remote session browsing configuration that splitsprocessing actions at a marshalling subsystem 812 may construct aprocessing result including marshalling data as well as any otherprocessed structures, scripts, or data discussed above, and provide theprocessing result and associated embedded resources to the clientcomputing device for processing.

In some embodiments, JavaScript interacts with an underlying networkresource such as a Web document through the Document Object Model APIs.These APIs may be provided through a native object model subsystem 814that knows how to access and manipulate the document and is the primaryinteraction point between the script engine and the browser.Illustratively, a remote session browsing configuration that splitsprocessing actions at a native object model subsystem 814 may constructa processing result including native object model state data or APIcalls as well as any other processed structures, scripts, or datadiscussed above, and provide the processing result and any otherassociated embedded resources to the client computing device forprocessing.

Once the document is constructed, the browser may needs to apply styleinformation before it can be displayed to the user. The formattingsubsystem 816 takes the HTML document and applies styles.Illustratively, a remote session browsing configuration that splitsprocessing actions at a formatting subsystem 816 may construct aprocessing result including an HTML representation with applied styles,as well as any other processed state data, API calls, structures,scripts, or data discussed above, and provide the processing result andany other associated embedded resources to the client computing devicefor processing.

In one embodiment, CSS is a block based layout system. After thedocument is styled, the next step, at a block building subsystem 818,may be to construct rectangular blocks that will be displayed to theuser. This process may determine things like the size of the blocks andmay be tightly integrated with the next stage, layout. A remote sessionbrowsing configuration that splits processing actions at a blockbuilding subsystem 818 may construct a processing result including blockinformation, as well as any other processed state data, API calls,structures, scripts, or data discussed above, and provide the processingresult and any other associated embedded resources to the clientcomputing device for processing.

Subsequent to the browser styling the content and constructing theblocks, it may go through the process of laying out the content. Thelayout subsystem 820 is responsible for this algorithmically complexprocess. Illustratively, a remote session browsing configuration thatsplits processing actions at a layout subsystem 820 may process thevarious state data, API calls, structures, scripts, or data discussedabove to construct a processing result including layout information forthe client computing device. Illustratively, an NCC POP may make use ofvarious data or settings associated with the client computing device orbrowser (e.g., as provided in the initial browse session request) inorder to generate a suitable layout for the client computing device. Forexample, a mobile device may provide a screen resolution and a displaymode to the NCC POP. The NCC POP may base layout calculations on thisscreen resolution and display mode in order to generate a processingresult corresponding to a content representation suitable for a browserrunning on the mobile device. Illustratively, in various embodiments,any other subsystem implemented by the NCC POP may make use of dataassociated with the client computing device or browser in generating aprocessing result for the client.

The final stage of the process may occur inside the display subsystem822 where the final content is displayed to the user. This process isoften referred to as drawing. A remote session browsing configurationthat splits processing actions at the networking subsystem 802 mightinclude a remote session browsing configuration utilizing an RDP remotesession communication protocol, where nearly all processing is performedat the NCC POP, and a processing result including bitmap data and lowlevel interface data are passed to the client computing device fordisplay.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrative of a new browse session routine900 implemented by network computing and storage provider 107 of FIG. 1.New browse session routine 900 begins at block 902. At block 904, thenetwork computing and storage provider 107 receives a new browse sessionrequest from client computing device 102. As previously described, theclient computing device 102 may load a browser for viewing networkcontent in response to an event or user request. Subsequent to thebrowser being loaded, the browser may be implemented request a newbrowse session. From the perspective of the user of the client computingdevice, the request for the new browse session corresponds to theintended request to transmit the request to one or more correspondingcontent providers 104. Illustratively, this request may be generatedautomatically as a result of the browser loading (e.g., a request for adefault or “home” page), or may be generated as a result of a userfollowing a link or entering a network address into an address bar. Thisbrowse session request may include one or more addresses or referencesto various network resources or other content requested by the clientcomputing device 102. In an illustrative embodiment, the browse sessionrequest is transmitted in accordance with an API.

At block 906 the network computing and storage provider 107 may selectan associated NCC POP to instantiate a new browse session based on thebrowse session request. As discussed above with reference to FIG. 1, anetwork computing and storage provider 107 may include any number of NCCPOPs distributed across any number of physical or logical locations. Anetwork computing and storage provider 107 may select a NCC POP toservice a browse session request based on any number of factors,including, but not limited to available NCC POP resources (e.g.,available memory, processor load, network load, etc.), a financial costof servicing the browse session request at the NCC POP, the NCC POPlocation respective to a client computing device 102, content provider104, or CDN POP 116, a NCC POP cache status (e.g., whether a requestedresource is already stored in an NCC POP cache), etc.

In one embodiment, the network computing and storage provider 107 mayselect a number of NCC POPs to service a browse session request. Forexample, the network computing and storage provider 107 may select twoNCC POPs with different logical locations in the network. Each NCC POPmay independently request and process network content on the behalf ofthe client computing device 102, and the client computing device 102 mayaccept data from the first NCC POP to return a processing result.Subsequent to being selected by the network computing and storageprovider 107, NCC POP 142 may obtain the browse session request. In oneembodiment, NCC POP 142 may have the browse session request forwarded toit by a component of network computing and storage provider 107. Inanother embodiment, NCC POP 142 or client computing device 102 mayreceive connection information allowing the establishment of directcommunication between NCC POP 142 and client computing device 102.Illustratively, NCC POP 142 may be provided with the browse sessionrequest originally provided to network computing and storage provider107, may be provided with a subset of information (e.g., just a networkaddress of requested content), or may be provided additional informationnot included in the original browse session request.

Subsequent to the NCC POP 142 being selected, the network computing andstorage provider 107 may cause the NCC POP 142 to instantiate a newbrowse session. Illustratively, instantiating a new browse sessioninstance may include loading a new virtual machine instance and/orbrowser instance at the NCC POP 142, reserving or allocating devicememory, storage or cache space, processor time, network bandwidth, orother computational or network resources for the new browse session.Illustratively, one or more characteristics of the new browse sessioninstance and/or browser instance may be based on client computing device102 information included in the browse session request. For example, thebrowse session request may include a device type or browser type, adevice screen resolution, a browser display area, or other informationdefining the display preferences or capabilities of the client computingdevice 102 or browser. The NCC POP 142 may accordingly instantiate avirtual machine instance and/or a browser instance with the same orsimilar capabilities as the client computing device 102. Illustratively,maintaining a virtual machine instance and/or browser with the same orsimilar capabilities as the client computing device 102 may allow theNCC POP 142 to process network content according to the appropriatedimensions and layout for display on the particular client computingdevice 102.

In some embodiments, the NCC POP 142 may utilize an existing virtualmachine instance and/or browser instance in addition to, or as analternative to, instating a new browse session. For example, subsequentto the NCC POP 142 being selected, the network computing and storageprovider 107 may cause the NCC POP 142 to associate an existing browserinstance and/or virtual machine instance, such as one or more instancespreviously instantiated at the NCC POP 142, with the new browse sessionrequest. Illustratively, an existing browser session and/or virtualmachine instance may correspond to another browse session, remoteapplication session, or other remote process associated with the user orclient computing device 102, or may be a previously instantiatedsoftware instance from an unrelated browse session or remote process. Inother embodiments, the NCC POP 142 may instantiate a new browser orother application process in an existing virtual machine instance, ormay combine the utilization of previously instantiated and newlyinstantiated software processes in any number of other ways. In stillfurther embodiments, the network computing and storage provider or NCCPOP 142 may instantiate any number of new virtual machine instancesand/or browser instances (or make use of existing instantiatedinstances) based on a single browse session request.

At block 908 the network computing and storage provider 107 may providea request for one or more network resources to a content provider or CDNservice provider based on a network address included in the browsesession request. In various embodiments, one or more network resourcesmay be additionally or alternately retrieved from a cache local to theNCC POP 142 or otherwise associated with the network computing andstorage provider 107. One of skill in the art will appreciate that, inthe case of other embodiments, the link or network address maycorrespond to a document or file stored in a digital file locker orother network storage location or at a cache component associated withthe network computing and storage provider 107 or client computingdevice 102. In some embodiments, the new session request may include adocument or file in addition to or as an alternative to a networkaddress. At block 910, the network computing and storage provider 107obtains the one or more network resources. Subsequent to obtaining therequested network resource, the NCC POP 142 may process the networkresource to extract embedded resource identifiers.

At block 912, the network computing and storage provider 107 may provideresource requests to one or more sources of content such as contentproviders, CDN service providers, and caches. The resource requests maycorrespond to embedded resources based on the one or more embeddedresource identifiers extracted from the one or more network resource asdescribed in block 910 above. At block 914, the network computing andstorage provider 107 may obtain these embedded resources from any numberof different sources, sequentially or in parallel.

At block 916, the network computing and storage provider 107 may processthe one or more network resources and associated embedded resources todetermine a remote session browsing configuration for the processing andcommunication of content to the client computing device 102. A remotesession browsing configuration may include any proprietary or publicremote protocol allowing exchange of data and user interactions orrequests between a client and a remote server. The remote sessionbrowsing configuration may illustratively include both a remote sessioncommunication protocol and a processing schema for providing processed(or unprocessed) content to a client computing device for display in thecontent display area of a browser.

Illustratively, a remote session browsing configuration may define orspecify a remote session communication protocol, including, but notlimited to, a network protocol, signaling model, transport mechanism, orencapsulation format for the exchange of state data, user interactions,and other data and content between the network computing and storageprovider and the client computing device. Examples of remote sessioncommunication protocols known in the art include Remote Desktop Protocol(RDP), X-Windows protocol, Virtual Network Computing (VNC) protocol,Remote Frame Buffer protocol, HTML, etc. For example, RDP illustrativelyspecifies a number of processing mechanisms for encoding client input(e.g., mouse movement, keyboard input, etc.) into protocol data unitsfor provision to a remote computing device, and corresponding mechanismsfor sending bitmap updates and low level interface information back tothe client device. As another example, the HTML protocol illustrativelyprovides a mechanism for providing files defining interface informationand containing resources references from a server to a client, and acorresponding mechanism for a client computing device to providerequests for additional files and resources to the server. In oneembodiment, the NCC POP 142 may provide an initial communication to theclient computing device 102 after determining the remote sessioncommunication protocol. This initial communication may allow the clientcomputing device 102 to prepare to receive communications in theselected remote session communication protocol, and, in the case of pullremote session communication protocols like HTTP, may cause the clientcomputing device to send an initial resource request to the browsesession instance running on the NCC POP 142.

Each remote session browsing configuration may additionally define asplit of processing actions between the network computing and storageservice (e.g., NCC POP 142) and the client computing device (e.g.,client computing device 102). In one embodiment, a particular split ofprocessing actions may be based on or mandated by a particular remotesession communication protocol. In another embodiment, a remote sessioncommunication protocol may allow several different splits of processingactions depending on the implementation or configuration of theprotocol. For the purpose of illustration, many pieces of networkcontent (e.g., Web pages, video, Flash documents) may require variousprocessing actions before being displayed on a computing device. A Webpage, for example, may be parsed to process various HTML layoutinformation and references to associated resources or embedded contentsuch as CSS style sheets and Javascript, as well as embedded contentobjects such as images, video, audio, etc. The HTML and each referencedobject or piece of code will typically be parsed and processed before arepresentative object model corresponding to the Web page may beconstructed. This object model may then be processed further for layoutand display in a content display area of a browser at the clientcomputing device 102. Illustrative browser processing actions aredescribed in greater detail below with reference to FIG. 8. One of skillin the art will appreciate that, in the case of other embodiments orapplications, various other processing actions may be required.

A remote session browsing configuration may specify that various of theprocessing actions required for display of piece of network content beperformed at the remote computing device, such as the NCC POP 142,rather than at the client computing device 102. Network contentpartially (or wholly) processed at the network computing and storageprovider may be referred to as a processing result. As discussed below,the split of processing actions may be associated with or linked to theremote session communication protocol used for exchanging data andclient input between the NCC POP 142 and client computing device 102.

For example, a remote session communication protocol such as RDP thattransmits a processing result including low level interface informationand bitmaps to the client computing device 142 for display may beassociated with a remote session browsing configuration that specifiesperforming all, or nearly all, of the necessary content processingactions at the NCC POP 142. While using RDP, the NCC POP 142 may, forexample, run a full instance of a browser the NCC POP 142 and transmit aprocessing result consisting of bitmap updates corresponding to arepresentation of the displayed content to the client computing device102. The client computing device 102, in this example, may merely berequired to assemble the transmitted bitmap updates for display in thecontent display area of the browser, and may perform none of theprocessing of the actual HTML, Javascript, or data objects involved inthe display of an illustrative piece of network content. As anotherexample, a remote session browsing configuration utilizing a remotesession communication protocol such as HTML may transmit network contentin a largely unprocessed form. The client computing device 102 may thusperform all of the processing actions required for display of networkcontent while the NCC POP 142 performs little or no processing.

The NCC POP 142 may base its determination of a remote session browsingconfiguration on any number of factors, including, but not limited to,one or more characteristics of one or more of the requested resources,content provider 104, or CDN service provider 106, one or morecharacteristics of the content address or domain, one or morecharacteristics of the client computing device 102, browser orapplication, user, one or more characteristics of the NCC POP 142, orone or more characteristics of the network or network connection, etc.Characteristics of requested resources may include, but are not limitedto, a data format, a content type, a size, processing requirements,resource latency requirements, a number or type of interactive elements,a security risk, an associated user preference, a network address, anetwork domain, an associated content provider, etc. Characteristics ofa content provider 104, CDN service provider 106, computing device 102,or NCC POP 142 may include, but are not limited to, processing power,memory, storage, network connectivity (e.g., available bandwidth orlatency), a physical or logical location, predicted stability or risk offailure, a software or hardware profile, available resources (e.g.,available memory or processing, or the number of concurrently opensoftware applications), etc. The NCC POP 142 may further considerperceived security threats or risks associated with a piece of contentor domain, preferences of a client computing device or a contentprovider, computing or network resource costs (e.g., a financial cost ofprocessing or bandwidth, resource usage, etc.), predeterminedpreferences or selection information, any additional processing overheadrequired by a particular remote session browsing configuration, a cachestatus (e.g., whether a particular resources is cached at a NCC POP 142,at the client computing device 102, or at other network storageassociated with the network computing and storage provider), a predicteddelay or time required to retrieve requested network content, apreferred content provider or agreements with a content provider for aparticular remote session browsing configuration or level of service, aremote session browsing configuration being used for another (or thecurrent) browse session by the same user, or any other factor.

In some embodiments, an NCC POP 142 may base a determination of a remotesession browsing configuration on past behavior or practice. Forexample, an NCC POP 142 that has determined a remote browse sessionconfiguration for a particular resource in the past may automaticallyselect the same remote browse session configuration when the resource isrequested by the same (or potentially a different) user. As anotherexample, a user that has a history of frequently accessing Web siteswith extensive processing requirements may automatically be assigned aremote session browsing configuration that performs the majority ofprocessing at the NCC POP 142. In other embodiments, an NCC POP 142 maybase a determination of a remote browse session configuration onpredictions of future behavior. For example, an NCC POP 142 may base itsdetermination of a remote browse session configuration for a particularresource on an analysis of past determinations made for a particular Website, network domain, or set of related resources. A content providerthat historically has provided video-heavy Web pages may be associatedwith a remote session browsing configuration that emphasizes videoperformance at the client computing device 102. Illustratively, pasthistorical analysis and future predictions may be considered as one ormore of a number of factors on which to base the remote session browsingconfiguration determination process, or may be definitive in thedecision making process. For example, once an NCC POP 142 determines aremote session browsing configuration for a particular content provider,it may skip the remote session browsing configuration determinationprocess for any future resources served from the content provider.Illustratively, the NCC POP 142 may re-determine a remote sessionbrowsing configuration to be associated with the content provider aftera fixed period of time, or after the NCC POP 142 has identified ordetermined a change in the content being served by the content provider.

In other embodiments, a network resource, Web site, network domain,content provider, or other network entity may specify or otherwiserequest the use of a particular remote browse session configuration in aresource tag, metadata, or other communication with an NCC POP 142. TheNCC POP 142 may treat the request as definitive, or may consider therequest as one of multiple factors to be considered in the decisionmaking process.

For example, a remote session browsing configuration utilizing a remotesession communication protocol such as RDP may specify extensiveprocessing to occur at the network computing and storage provider 107(e.g., at NCC POP 142) rather than at the client computing device 102.The remote session browsing configuration may thus leverage theprocessing power of the NCC POP 142 to achieve lower latencies andpresentation delay when dealing with network content that requires agreat deal of pre-processing (e.g., content with a great deal of CSS orJavascript information defining page layout). The NCC POP 142 maytherefore select a remote session browsing configuration that performs asubstantial amount of processing at the network computing and storageprovider 107 and utilizes RDP or a similar remote session communicationprotocol for communication of processing-intensive content. Conversely,a remote session browsing configuration that utilizes a remote sessioncommunication protocol such as HTML may specify extensive processing atthe client computing device 102 rather than at the network computing andstorage provider 107. The remote session communication protocol may thusachieve smaller delays and smoother presentation when presented withsimple network content that requires very little processing or networkcontent that requires rapid change in displayed content after itsinitial load. For example, a Web page with embedded video may performbetter performing the majority of processing locally and utilizing HTMLrather than RDP as a remote session communication protocol. A remotesession browsing configuration specifying extensive processing at thenetwork computing and storage provider 107 must process the video at theNCC POP 142 and rapidly send screen updates (e.g. by RDP) to the clientcomputing device 102, potentially requiring a great deal of bandwidthand causing choppy playback in the browser, while a remote sessionbrowsing configuration specifying local processing may provide raw videoinformation directly to the client computing device 102 for display(e.g. by HTML), allowing for client side caching and a smoother playbackof content.

As a further example, the NCC POP 142 in communication with a clientcomputing device 102 with extremely limited processing power may electto use a remote session browsing configuration that requires very littleprocessing by the client computing device, for example, using RDP totransmit NCC POP 142 processed results. Conversely, an NCC POP 142providing an extremely interactive Web page may elect to use a remotesession browsing configuration that allows the client computing device102 to handle user interactions locally in order to preserve interfaceresponsiveness, for example, using HTML to transmit substantiallyunprocessed data. As a still further example, a NCC POP 142 may base thedetermination of a remote session browse configuration on preferencesprovided by the client computing device 102. A client computing device102 may illustratively include preferences for a remote session browseconfiguration in an initial browse session request, or at any othertime. The NCC POP 142 may utilize these preferences as an alternativeto, or in addition to any other factor or decision metric.Illustratively, allowing the client computing device 102 to set orinfluence the selection of a remote session browse configuration allowsthe NCC POP 142 to take user preferences in account when determining aremote session browse configuration. For example, a user worried aboutinitial page load times may prefer to use a remote session browsingconfiguration heavy on remote processing and utilizing an RDP remotesession communications protocol, while a user wishing to maintain anextremely responsive interface may prefer using a remote sessionbrowsing configuration that performs the majority of the processing onthe client computing device 102, for example, using an HTML remotesession communication protocol.

Illustratively, the NCC POP 142 may base a determination of a remotebrowsing configuration on any factor or combination of factors. Forexample, the NCC POP 142 may select a remote session browsingconfiguration based on a single factor, or may assign weights to one ormore factors in making a determination. In some embodiments, thedetermination process of the NCC POP 142 may change based on one or morefactors described above. For example, an NCC POP 142 communicating witha client computing device 102 over a network with a surplus of unusedbandwidth may give a low weight to factors such as the networkrequirements of a remote browse session, and may give a higher weight tofactors such as the latency of page interactions, while an NCC POP 142communicating with a client computing device 102 over a limitedbandwidth network may give a higher weight to factors dealing with theefficiency of the remote session browse protocol over a network.

In one embodiment, the NCC POP 142 may select a single remote sessionbrowsing configuration for a set of network content. For example, theNCC POP 142 may select a single remote session browsing configurationfor a requested network resource such as a Web page. The NCC POP 142 maythus process the Web page together with all embedded content based onthe selected remote browsing session protocol, and utilize the remotebrowsing session protocol to exchange user interaction data and updatedbrowse session data for all embedded content associated with the Webpage. In another embodiment, the NCC POP 142 may select different remotesession browsing configurations for one or more resources in a set ofnetwork content. For example, a network resource such as a Web page mayreference processing intensive embedded Javascript or CSS resources, aswell as embedded video resources. The NCC POP 142 may select a firstremote session browsing configuration for the Web page and all embeddedresources excluding the embedded video resource, and a second remotesession browsing configuration for the embedded video resource.Illustratively, this may result in the NCC POP 142 utilizing RDP to senda processing result to the client computing device 102 for display ofthe Web page and associated embedded resources, while utilizing HTTP tosend the embedded video as a separate, unprocessed file. In oneembodiment, the client computing device 102 may perform the minimalprocessing required to display the RDP processing result correspondingto the Web page and embedded resources, and may also perform additionalprocessing necessary to display the embedded video, for example,overlaying the video on top of the displayed RDP representation of theWeb page. Any number of remote session browsing configurations may beselected to correspond to any number of resources or objects included ina set of network content, regardless of whether resources or objects areobtained from a content provider 104 or CDN service provider 106 in oneor more logical files or data structures.

Although the selection of a remote session browsing configuration isillustratively depicted herein as occurring after all network resourcesand associated embedded content have been obtained by the NCC POP 142,one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the selection of aremote session browsing configuration may be performed at any time. Forexample, the NCC POP 142 may select a remote session browsingconfiguration after receiving a new browse session request or relatedinformation from the client computing device, may select a remotesession browsing configuration after obtaining a network resource, butbefore obtaining any associated embedded resources, or at any othertime. In some embodiments, the NCC POP 142 may switch to a new remotesession browsing configuration at some time subsequent to the clientcomputing device 102 obtaining an initial processing result.Illustratively, the NCC POP 142 selecting a new remote session browsingconfiguration may occur automatically after a certain time period orevent or in response to a change in network conditions, NCC POP 142 orclient computing device 102 load or computing resources, or any otherfactor described above as potentially influencing the choice of remotesession browsing configuration. Illustratively, an NCC POP 142 dealingwith other types or formats of information may select a remote sessionprotocol based on any number of similar factors. For example, one ofskill in the relevant art will appreciate that a similar schema may bedeveloped for the processing of images, video, audio, databaseinformation, 3d design data, or any other file format or type of dataknown in the art.

The client computing device 102 may, in various embodiments, furtherinstantiate a parallel browsing process sequentially or simultaneouslywith the request for a remote browse session. In one embodiment, aclient computing device 102 may instantiate a traditional local browsesession as known in the art (e.g., providing content requests from thebrowser and processing obtained resources locally) in addition to one ormore remote browse instance executing at an NCC POP 142. In anotherembodiment, a client computing device 102 may be provided withunprocessed network resources by the NCC POP 142. Illustratively, thenetwork resources may have been retrieved from one or more contentproviders, CDNs, or cache components by the NCC POP 142. The resourcesmay be provided to the client computing device 102 to process locally inparallel with the remote browse instance executing at the NCC POP 142.In still further embodiments, the network computing and storage provideror NCC POP 142 may instantiate any number of new virtual machineinstances and/or browser instances (or make use of existing instantiatedinstances) to process resources and/or send processing results to theclient computing device 102 in parallel. Illustratively, the localbrowse session at the client computing device 102 and the remote browsesession instance at the NCC POP 142 may execute in parallel.

In one embodiment, a local browse session executing at the clientcomputing device 102 may obtain unprocessed content (e.g., html Webpages, embedded content, and other network resources) from the NCC POP142 responsive to a browse session request. Illustratively, the contentmay have been retrieved by the NCC POP 142 from a content provider, CDN,or cache in response to the browse session request. The unprocessedcontent provided by the NCC POP 142 may include all the contentassociated with the browse session request or may supplement contentexisting in a cache of the client computing device, retrieved from acontent provider or CDN, or obtained from some other source. In oneembodiment, a client computing device 102 may obtain all requestedcontent from a local cache, and may not obtain any unprocessed resourcesor content from the NCC POP 142. Subsequent to obtaining the unprocessedcontent, client computing device 102 may process the requested contentin parallel with a remote browse session executing at the NCC POP 142.For example, as the local browse session executing at the clientcomputing device 102 is processing the requested content, a remotebrowse session executing at the NCC POP 142 may be processing the samecontent at substantially the same time. Once the NCC POP 142 hasperformed a set of processing actions on the content to generate aprocessing result (e.g., as specified by a determined remote sessionbrowsing configuration), the NCC POP 142 may provide the processingresult to the client computing device 102.

For the purpose of illustration, a client computing device 102 mayrequire a longer load time to obtain and process requested networkresources than a browse session instance running at the NCC POP 142. Forexample, the NCC POP 142 may obtain and process content quickly due toits position on the network and the relative processing power of thelocal client computing device as compared to the NCC POP 142. Even ifthe NCC POP 142 provides the client computing device 102 with allrequested network content, the client computing device 102 may stillobtain a processing result from NCC POP 142 before the local browsesession has fully completed processing the requested resources. Theclient computing device 102 may complete any further processing stepsand display the obtained processing result before completing localprocessing and display of the content. Illustratively, this may allowthe client computing device 102 to take advantage of an NCC POP 142'squicker content load time relative to a traditional local browsesession. Prior to the local browse session completing the processing allrequested resources, the browser may process any user interactionslocally and/or remotely as described in FIGS. 5 and 11 below.

Once the local browse session has fully obtained and processed resourcescorresponding to the requested content, the computing device 102 maydetermine whether to continue to display results obtained from the NCCPOP 142 (and process user interactions at the NCC POP 142) using thedetermined remote session browsing configuration or switch to processinguser interactions locally. Switching to process user interactionslocally may include replacing a displayed representation of therequested resources based on a processing result obtained from the NCCPOP 142 with a local display of the requested resources. For example, abrowser may display a representation of a Web page corresponding to aprocessing result from the NCC POP 142 (e.g., RDP display informationrepresenting the rendered page) until the browser is finished processingand rendering the Web page locally. The browser may then replace therepresentation from the NCC POP 142 with the locally renderedrepresentation of the Web page. Illustratively, replacing onerepresentation with another representation may be transparent to theuser. For example, the local and NCC POP 142 representations of the Webpage may be identical or substantially identical. In one embodiment,when the NCC POP 142 representation of the web page is displayed, thebrowser may send various user interactions with the displayed page tothe NCC POP 142 for processing. When the locally rendered version of theWeb page is displayed, user interactions may be processed locally at thebrowser. Illustratively, the determination of which representation ofthe requested resources to display (e.g., local or from the NCC POP 142)may be based on any of the same factors described with reference todetermining a remote session browse protocol in above.

In one embodiment, the client computing device 102 may switch toprocessing user interactions locally as soon as local resources arefully loaded. Illustratively, the remote browse session instance runningat the NCC POP 142 may be terminated after switching to localprocessing, or the remote browse session instance may be maintained as abackup in case of unresponsiveness or a failure with regards to thelocal browse session. For example, the client computing device 102 mayprocess user interactions locally, as well as sending remote userinteraction data to the NCC POP 142 in accordance with the selectedremote session browsing configuration. The remote user interaction datamay be used by the NCC POP 142 to keep the remote browse sessioninstance fully in parallel with the local browse process being executedby the browser at the client computing device 102. As long as the localbrowse session continues to handle user interactions, the NCC POP 142may either refrain from sending updated processing results, or may sendupdated processing results ignored by the client computing device 102.If a problem develops with the local browse session at the clientcomputing device 102, updated processing results may be provided to theclient computing device 102 from the NCC POP 142 for processing anddisplay in lieu of the local browse session. Illustratively, this switchfrom the local browse session to remote processing may be transparent tothe user. In some embodiments, the client computing device 102 mayswitch from a local browse session to a remote browse session instancebased on factors other than unresponsiveness or failure at the localbrowser. For example, the client computing device 102 or networkcomputing and storage component 107 may select between a remote andlocal browse session based on any of the factors enumerated with regardsto determining a remote session browse protocol above.

In another embodiment, the client computing device 102 may continue toprocess and display updated processing results from the NCC POP 142 evenafter the local browse session has fully loaded the requested content.The client computing device 102 may terminate the local browse sessionor may run the local browse session in parallel as a backup process inthe converse of the example provided above. It should be appreciatedthat although the local browse session is described here for the purposeof illustration as being slower to load than the remote browse sessioninstance, in some embodiments the local browse session may load thecontent faster than the remote browsing session, in which case thebrowser may process user interactions locally until the remote browseprocess has fully loaded the requested content. In some embodiments, theclient computing device 102 may display and process user interactionsthrough whichever browse session, local or remote, loads the requestedcontent first.

In various other embodiments, the network computing and storage provider107 may instantiate multiple remote browse session instances to run inparallel in addition to or as an alternative to instantiating a localbrowse session. Illustratively, these parallel browse session instancesmay utilize any of the same or different remote session browseprotocols, and may act as backups in the manner described above withregard to a local browse session, or may be used and switched between asalternatives in order to maximize browser performance at the clientcomputing device 102. For example, in response to one or more browsesession requests, the network computing and storage provider 107 mayinstantiate a browse session instance running on a first NCC POP andutilizing an RDP protocol as well as browse session instance running ona second NCC POP utilizing an X-Windows protocol. The client computingdevice 102 or the network computing and storage provider 107 maydetermine which browse session instance and protocol should be usedbased on performance or resource usage considerations as described withregards to determining a remote session browse protocol above.

With continued reference to FIG. 9, at block 918, the network computingand storage provider 107 may process the obtained content, including theone or more requested network resources and embedded network resources,according to the determined remote session browsing configuration togenerate an initial processing result. At block 920, the networkcomputing and storage provider 107 may provide the initial processingresult to the client for further processing and display in the contentdisplay area of the browser. For the purposes of further example, anillustrative client new browse session interaction routine 1000implemented by client computing device 102 is described below withreference to FIG. 10. At block 922, the start new browse session routine900 ends.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrative of a client new browse sessioninteraction routine 1000 implemented by client computing device 102. Newbrowse session interaction routine 1000 begins at block 1002 in responseto an event or user request causing the client computing device 102 toload a browser for viewing network content. At block 1004, the clientcomputing device loads locally managed components of the browser,including all local interface components. As described above withreference to FIGS. 5 and 7, local interface components may includetoolbars, menus, buttons, or other user interface controls managed andcontrolled by the software browser application or any other processexecuting or implemented locally at the client computing device. Atblock 1006, the client computing device 102 provides a request for a newbrowse session instance to the network computing and storage provider107. From the perspective of the user of the client computing device,the request for the new browse session corresponds to the intendedrequest to transmit the request to one or more corresponding contentproviders 104. In other embodiment, the new session request maycorrespond to a request to load a file or other document (e.g., arequest to load an image in a photo-editing application, etc.).Illustratively, the request may be generated automatically as a resultof the browser loading (e.g., a request for a default or “home” page),or may be generated as a result of a user following a link or entering anetwork address into an address bar. As illustrated with respect to FIG.2, the browse session request is transmitted first to a networkcomputing and storage provider 107. In an illustrative embodiment, thenetwork computing and storage provider 107 utilizes a registration APIto accept browse session requests from the client computing device 102.

A browse session request may include any number of pieces of data orinformation including, but not limited to, information associated with auser, information associated with the client computing device 102 orsoftware on the client computing device (e.g., hardware or softwareinformation, a device physical or logical location, etc.), informationassociated with the network 108, user or browser preferences (e.g., arequested remote session browse protocol, a preference list, a decisiontree, or other information), information associated with the networkcomputing and storage provider 107, information associated with one ormore pieces of requested network content (e.g., the network address of anetwork resource), etc. For example, a browse session request from theclient computing device 102 may include information identifying aparticular client computing device hardware specification or a hardwareperformance level, latency and bandwidth data associated with recentcontent requests, a desired security level for processing differenttypes of content, a predetermined preference list of remote sessionbrowse protocols, and one or more network addresses corresponding torequested network resources, among others. In another example, thebrowse session request can include information identifying a clientcomputing device 102 screen resolution, aspect ratio, or browser displayarea in the browse session request may allow the network computing andstorage provider 107 to customize the processing of network content fordisplay on the client computing device. As previously described, thebrowse session request can include network address informationcorresponding to a requested network resource, which may be in any formincluding, but not limited to, an Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, aURL, a Media Access Control (“MAC”) address, etc. In one embodiment, therequest for a new browse session instance may correspond to the networkcomputing and storage provider receiving a request for a new browsesession instance at block 904 of FIG. 9 above.

At block 1008, the client computing device 102 obtains an initialprocessing result from the network computing and storage provider 107.Illustratively, the format and data included in the initial processingresult may vary based on the remote session browsing configurationselected by the network computing and storage provider 107. In oneembodiment, the initial processing result may include or be preceded bydata informing the client computing device 102 of the choice of remotesession browsing configuration and/or establishing a connection over theremote session communication protocol corresponding to the selectedremote session browsing configuration. As discussed above with referenceto FIGS. 8 and 9, the obtained initial processing result may includerequested content with one or more processing actions performed by thenetwork computing and storage provider 107. Subsequent to obtaining theinitial processing result, the client computing device 102 may performany remaining processing actions on the initial processing result atblock 1010.

At block 1012, the client computing device 102 displays the contentcorresponding to the processed initial processing result. For example,the client computing device 102 may display the processed client in thecontent display area 702 of a browser 700 as described in FIG. 7 above.In one embodiment, the processing result may only include display datacorresponding to content displayed by a browser, and may not includedisplay data corresponding to, for example, the interface controls of abrowser instance at the NCC POP 142, the desktop of a virtual machineinstance corresponding to the browse session, or any other userinterface of the NCC POP 142. For example, the NCC POP 142 may process aWeb page and associated content for display via RDP in a browserinstance running in a virtual machine instance at the NCC POP 142. Thebrowser instance may have one or more interface elements such astoolbars, menus, scroll bars, etc., in addition to the displayed Webpage. The NCC POP 142 may send an RDP processing result corresponding tothe displayed Web page only, without any of the interface elementsassociated with the browser. Illustratively, including an RDP processingresult corresponding to the displayed Web page only may allow thebrowser at the client computing instance 102 to display the Web page byassembling the RDP processing result in the content display area of thebrowser without any further processing. In another embodiment, the RDPprocessing result may include a full virtual machine desktop and browserwindow corresponding to the full interface displayed at the NCC POP 142browse session instance. The client computing device may automaticallyidentify the area of the RDP processing result corresponding to therequested content, and may display only this area in the content displayarea of the browser.

At block 1014, the client computing device 102 processes local andremote user interactions. An illustrative routine for processing userinteractions is provided below with reference to FIG. 11. At block 1016the routine ends. Illustratively, a browse session instance instantiatedby the network computing content provider 107 may terminate when abrowser window or content display area is closed, may terminate when aremote session browse protocol is replaced by a parallel process at theclient computing device 102, or may terminate in accordance with a timeror other event. Illustratively, if a browse session has terminatedautomatically due to a time-out but has associated content stilldisplayed in a browser at the client computing device 102, laterattempts by the user to interact with the content may result in a newbrowse session request being provided to the network computing andstorage service provider 107 to start a new browse session according tothe last state of the terminated session. Illustratively, terminating aremote browse session after a time-out may allow the network computingstorage provider 107 to save computing resources at the NCC POP. In oneembodiment, this process may be transparent to the user at clientcomputing device 102, even though the remote browse session has beenterminated during the intervening period.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrative of a process user interactionroutine 1100 implemented by a client computing device 102. Process userinteraction routine 1100 begins at block 1102 in response to aninteraction by a user. Illustratively, process user interaction routine1100 may begin subsequent to the display of content in a content displayarea of a browser interface. For example, process user interactionroutine 1100 may correspond to block 1014 of FIG. 10 above.

Illustratively, the displayed content may have one or more interactiveelements, such as forms, buttons, animations, etc. User interaction withthese interactive elements may require processing and display of updatedcontent in the content display area. For example, selecting an elementin a drop-down menu on a Web page may require processing and may changethe configuration or visual appearance of the Web page or embeddedresources. Illustratively, the processing required by user interactionwith the displayed content may be handled as a local user interaction atthe client computing device 102 or as a remote user interaction at theNCC POP 142 depending on the remote session browsing configuration inuse. For example, if a remote session browsing configuration utilizingsubstantial local processing (e.g., sending unprocessed files overHTML), user interactions with displayed content may typically be handledas local user interactions at the client computing device 102.Illustratively, handling user interactions with displayed content aslocal user interactions at the client computing device 102 may allow forbetter responsiveness and fewer delays with simple user interactions(e.g., selection of a radio button, or typing text into a field), asinteraction data corresponding to the interaction does not need to besent to the NCC POP 142 for processing.

As a further example, if a remote session browsing configurationutilizing heavy remote processing of content (e.g., sending processedbitmap data over RDP) is being used as the remote session browsingconfiguration, all user interactions with displayed content may behandled as remote user interactions. For example, user input (e.g.,keyboard inputs and cursor positions) may be encapsulated in RDPprotocol data units and transmitted across network 108 to the NCC POP142 for processing. Illustratively, the NCC POP 142 may apply the userinteractions to the network content and transmit processing resultsconsisting of updated bitmaps and interface data corresponding to anupdated representation of the content back to the client computingdevice 102. Illustratively, handling user interactions with displayedcontent as remote user interactions at the NCC POP 142 may have anegative impact on interface responsiveness, as data is required to passover the network and is limited by network latency; however, userinteractions that require a substantial amount of processing may performbetter when handled as remote user interactions, as the processinglatency of the NCC POP 142 may be substantially lower than theprocessing latency of the client computing device 102.

In addition to a content display area for displaying network content, abrowser may have one or more local interface components, such astoolbars, menus, buttons, or other user interface controls. Interactionswith local interface components may be treated as local userinteractions or remote user interactions depending on the processingrequired by the interaction and the remote session browsingconfiguration as further depicted in illustrative FIG. 7. For example,some local interface components may be managed locally by browser coderunning on the client computing device, while other local interfacecomponents may have one or more locally managed aspects (e.g., buttonclick feedback, scroll bar redraw, etc), and one or more remote managedaspects treated as remote user interactions (e.g., page refresh,requesting a page at an address in an address bar, etc.)

At block 1104, the client computing device 102 obtains a userinteraction from the user. This user interaction may be an interactionwith local interface components as described in FIG. 7 and above, or maybe an interaction with any interactive elements of the content displayedin the content display area of the browser, such as form fields,buttons, animations, etc. User interaction with these local interfacecomponents or interactive elements of displayed content may requirelocal and/or remote processing depending on the nature of the componentor element and the processing split specified by the remote sessionbrowsing configuration as described in FIG. 7 and above. At block 1106,the client computing device 102 determines the interaction processingrequirements for the obtained user interaction. At decision block 1108,if the user interaction has local aspects (e.g., button click feedback,a change to a local browser state, a content element being processed atthe client computing device, etc.) the routine 1102 moves to block 1110to process the local aspect or aspects of the user interaction at theclient computing device 102 and subsequently update the local interfacecomponents at block 1112. Illustratively, and as discussed above,aspects of the interaction and updating interface components andelements locally allows a browser to provide responsive user interfacesand content. Subsequent to processing local aspect(s) of the userinteraction, or if the user interaction has no local elements (e.g., auser interaction with a content element displayed in the content displayarea when using a remote session browsing configuration processingentirely on the server side and utilizing an RDP remote sessioncommunication protocol) the routine 1102 moves to decision block 1114.If the user interaction has remote aspects that require processing, theroutine 1102 moves to block 1116 and provides remote user interactiondata to the network computing and storage provider 107. Illustratively,in the case of a heavily server side remote session browsingconfiguration utilizing an RDP remote session communication protocol,the remote user interaction data may include input data such as a cursorposition or keyboard input encapsulated in one or more RDP protocol dataunits. In some embodiments of remote session browsing configurationsutilizing RDP or other remote session communication protocols,particular aspects of remote user interaction data such as cursorpositions may be provided to the network computing and storage provider107 on a continuous basis, while in other embodiments of remote sessionbrowse configurations remote user interaction data may only be providedto the network computing and storage provider 107 when associated with auser interaction that requires remote processing.

At block 1118, the client computing device 102 obtains an updatedprocessing result from the network computing and storage provider 107,the network computing and storage provider 107 having processed theremote user interaction data to generate an updated representation ofthe content. At block 1120, the client computing device 102 performs anyadditional processing required on the updated processing result (basedon the remote session browsing configuration) and at block 1122 displaysthe updated processing result in the content display area of thebrowser. At block 1124 the process user interaction routine 1102 ends.Illustratively, the routine may be executed again any number of times inresponse to further user interactions with the browser and displayedcontent.

While illustrative embodiments have been disclosed and discussed, oneskilled in the relevant art will appreciate that additional oralternative embodiments may be implemented within the spirit and scopeof the present invention. For example, the techniques described hereinmay be utilized, without departing from the scope of the presentinvention, to allow remote processing management in any number of othersoftware applications and processes, including, but not limited to,image or video editing software, database software, office productivitysoftware, 3d design software, audio and sound processing applications,etc. Additionally, although many embodiments have been indicated asillustrative, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that theillustrative embodiments do not need to be combined or implementedtogether. As such, some illustrative embodiments do not need to beutilized or implemented in accordance with scope of variations to thepresent disclosure.

Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understoodwithin the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certainembodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certainfeatures, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is notgenerally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are inany way required for one or more embodiments or that one or moreembodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without userinput or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps areincluded or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached FIGURES should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executedout of order from that shown or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art. It willfurther be appreciated that the data and/or components described abovemay be stored on a computer-readable medium and loaded into memory ofthe computing device using a drive mechanism associated with a computerreadable storing the computer executable components such as a CD-ROM,DVD-ROM, or network interface further, the component and/or data can beincluded in a single device or distributed in any manner. Accordingly,general purpose computing devices may be configured to implement theprocesses, algorithms, and methodology of the present disclosure withthe processing and/or execution of the various data and/or componentsdescribed above.

It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may bemade to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to beunderstood as being among other acceptable examples. All suchmodifications and variations are intended to be included herein withinthe scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.

1. A system for remote session browsing comprising: one or more computerprocessors; at least one computer memory accessible by at least one ofthe one or more computer processors; and a browser component comprisingan executable software module executed by the one or more computerprocessors, wherein the browser component is operable to: provide arequest for network content to a network computing component, whereinthe request for network content includes an identification of at leastone of a network resource and one or more embedded resources, andwherein at least one of the network resource and the one or moreembedded resources can be processed with a plurality of processingactions; obtain a first processing result from the network computingcomponent, wherein the first processing result corresponds to the atleast one of the network resource and the one or more embedded resourcesin which the plurality of processing actions have not been completed;process the first processing result to generate a local processingresult corresponding to completion of at least one of the plurality ofprocessing actions; obtain a second processing result from the networkcomputing component, wherein the second processing result corresponds tothe at least one of the network resource and the one or more embeddedresources in which the plurality of processing actions have beencompleted; and determine whether to generate a representation of the atleast one of the network resource and the one or more embedded resourcesbased on either the local processing result or the second processingresult.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the network computingcomponent is configured to instantiate a network based browser processexecuting at the network computing component in response to the requestfor network content.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the browsercomponent determines whether to generate a representation of the atleast one of the network resource and the one or more embedded resourcesbased on either the local processing result or the second processingresult based on instructions received from the network computingcomponent.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the browser componentdetermines whether to generate a representation of the at least one ofthe network resource and the one or more embedded resources based oneither the local processing result or the second processing result basedon a time of completion of the local processing result and the secondprocessing result.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the browsercomponent determines whether to generate a representation of the atleast one of the network resource and the one or more embedded resourcesbased on either the local processing result or the second processingresult based on historical information related to the processing of theat least one of the network resource and the one or more embeddedresources.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the browser componentdetermines whether to generate a representation of the at least one ofthe network resource and the one or more embedded resources based oneither the local processing result or the second processing includes adetermination to generate a representation of the at least one of thenetwork resource and the one or more embedded resources based on acombination of the local processing result or the second processingresult.
 7. A computer-implemented method of remote session browsingcomprising: providing a request for network content to a networkcomputing component, wherein the network content is processed inaccordance with a plurality of processing actions; obtaining of thenetwork content in which at least one of the plurality of processingactions have not been completed; processing the network content togenerate a local processing result corresponding to completion of theplurality of processing actions; obtaining a network processing resultfrom the network computing component, wherein the network processingresult corresponds to a representation of the network content in whichthe plurality of processing actions have been completed; and determiningwhether to generate a representation of the network content based oneither the local processing result or the network processing result. 8.The method of claim 7, wherein the network computing component isconfigured to instantiate a network based browser process executing atthe network computing component in response to the request for networkcontent.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the representation of thenetwork content based on the local processing result and the networkprocessing result are substantially identical.
 10. The method of claim7, wherein determining whether to generate a representation of thenetwork content based on either the local processing result or thenetwork processing result includes determining whether to generate arepresentation of the network content based on either the localprocessing result or the network processing result based on instructionsreceived from the network computing component.
 11. The method of claim7, wherein determining whether to generate a representation of thenetwork content based on either the local processing result or thenetwork processing result includes determining whether to generate arepresentation of the network content based on either the localprocessing result or the network processing result based on a time ofcompletion of the local processing result and the second processingresult.
 12. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether togenerate a representation of the network content based on either thelocal processing result or the network processing result includesdetermining whether to generate a representation of the network contentbased on either the local processing result or the network processingresult based on historical information related to the processing of theat least one of the network resource and the one or more embeddedresources.
 13. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether togenerate a representation of the network content based on the localprocessing result, the method further comprising generating an updatedrepresentation of the network based on the network processing result.14. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether to generate arepresentation of the network content based on either the localprocessing result or the network processing result includes determiningwhether to generate a representation of the network content based oneither the local processing result or the network processing resultbased on one or more selection factors including at least one of a dataformat of the network content, a content type of the network content, asize of the network content, processing requirements of the networkcontent, network latency, network bandwidth, client computing deviceprocessing resources, network computing component processing resources,or a user preference.
 15. The method of claim 7, wherein obtaining ofthe network content in which at least one of the plurality of processingactions have not been completed includes obtaining the network contentfrom the network computing component.
 16. The method of claim 7, whereinobtaining of the network content in which at least one of the pluralityof processing actions have not been completed includes obtaining thenetwork content from a content provider.
 17. The method of claim 7,wherein obtaining of the network content in which at least one of theplurality of processing actions have not been completed includesobtaining the network content from a cache component associated with theclient computing device.
 18. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumhaving instructions encoded thereon for managing remote sessionbrowsing, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computingapparatus, cause the computing apparatus to: provide a request fornetwork content to a network computing component, wherein the networkcontent is processed in accordance with a plurality of processingactions; process the network content to generate a local processingresult corresponding to completion of the plurality of processingactions; obtain a network processing result from the network computingcomponent, wherein the network processing result corresponds to arepresentation of the network content in which the plurality ofprocessing actions have been completed; and determine whether togenerate a representation of the network content based on either thelocal processing result or the network processing result.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the networkcomputing component is configured to instantiate a network based browserprocess executing at the network computing component in response to therequest for network content.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 18, wherein the computing apparatus determines whetherto generate a representation of the at least one of the network resourceand the one or more embedded resources based on either the localprocessing result or the second processing result based on instructionsreceived from the network computing component.
 21. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the browser componentdetermines whether to generate a representation of the at least one ofthe network resource and the one or more embedded resources based oneither the local processing result or the second processing result basedon a time of completion of the local processing result and the secondprocessing result.
 22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 18, wherein the browser component determines whether to generate arepresentation of the at least one of the network resource and the oneor more embedded resources based on either the local processing resultor the second processing result based on historical information relatedto the processing of the at least one of the network resource and theone or more embedded resources.
 23. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 18, wherein the browser component determines whether togenerate a representation of the at least one of the network resourceand the one or more embedded resources based on either the localprocessing result or the second processing includes a determination togenerate a representation of the at least one of the network resourceand the one or more embedded resources based on a combination of thelocal processing result or the second processing result.
 24. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein thecomputing apparatus generates a representation of the network contentbased on the local processing result, the computing apparatus furtheroperable to generate an updated representation of the network based onthe network processing result.